The New Budget Battle

The House passed a budget recently, and the response has been predictable.  The Democrats have blasted the budget as a Republican attempt to starve the poor and turn them out into the street.  The Republicans have portrayed the budget as a means to balance our national income and spending so as to save the chance for prosperity.  Some Democrats in the leadership have gone so far as to claim that the Republicans adopted the budget motivated by racism.  The truth is something far simpler.

First, let's start with one overarching fact:  the Ryan-Murray budget agreement passed earlier this year set budget caps for both 2014 and 2015.  In simple terms, this means that there already is a serious budget for both this year and the next.  The latest battle of the budget really only pertains to the period after 2015 unless Congress decides to undo the Ryan Murray compromise (which is highly unlikely).  By the time 2016 rolls around, there will be a different House and a different Senate.  Indeed, nothing passed as part of this year's budget will be binding at that time.  In short, the whole thing is an exercise in theater not in reality.

Maybe our elected representatives could spend some time on things that actually matter.  Then again, I am probably an incurable optimist.